Trump says China ‘caught red handed’ shipping oil to North Korea

US President Donald Trump has accused China of being caught "red-handed" selling oil to North Korea, saying such moves would prevent "a friendly solution" to the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

Key points:

Donald Trump has accused China of allowing the trade of oil with North Korea

The comments came after South Korean media reported on the alleged transactions

China has denied the claims and said it is enforcing UN sanctions

The comments came after a South Korean newspaper reported Chinese and North Korean vessels had been illicitly linking up at sea to get oil to North Korea.

So-called ship-to-ship transfers are prohibited under United Nations sanctions put in place against North Korea in September.

"Caught RED HANDED — very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea," Mr Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

"There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!"

China earlier denied there had been UN sanction-breaking oil sales by Chinese ships to North Korea.

The UN resolution seeks to ban nearly 90 per cent of refined petroleum exports to North Korea by capping them at 500,000 barrels a year.

The US-drafted resolution also caps crude oil supplies to North Korea at 4 million barrels a year and commits the Council to further reductions if North Korea were to conduct another nuclear test or launch another ICBM.

The Trump administration has led a drive to step up global sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States.

Washington says the full cooperation of China, North Korea's neighbour and main trading partner, is vital to the success of this effort, while warning that all options are on the table, including military ones, in dealing with North Korea.

Spy satellites saw oil transfers, reports say

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper this week quoted South Korean government sources as saying that spy satellites had detected 30 instances of ship-to-ship transfers to North Korean vessels since October.

The newspaper said the transfers involved large Chinese and North Korean ships operating in waters between China and South Korea.

Ship-to-ship transfers:

Transferring goods to or from North Korean-flagged vessels while at sea is explicitly prohibited under UN sanctions

The US last month sanctioned multiple Chinese companies it said were engaging in the practice

The US Treasury Department said the trade from those companies was worth "hundreds of millions of dollars"

The article made reference to satellite images released by the US Treasury Department last month, which US officials said showed North Korean vessels attempting to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer.

"North Korea is known to employ deceptive shipping practices, including ship-to-ship transfers, a practice prohibited by [international sanctions against North Korea]," the department said in a statement last month.

A State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, reiterated on Wednesday that the United States had called on all countries to cut economic ties with North Korea.

"We urge China to end all economic ties with the DPRK, including tourism, and the provision of any oil or petroleum products, and expel all DPRK workers," he said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

China has repeatedly said it is fully enforcing all resolutions against North Korea, despite suspicion in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that loopholes still exist.

"The situation you have mentioned absolutely does not exist," he said.

Documents seen by Reuters this month showed Washington called on the Security Council to blacklist 10 ships for circumventing sanctions by conducting ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels or transporting North Korean coal.

China and Russia subsequently asked for more time to consider the proposal.

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